


The Reason for the Spite

by Trista_zevkia



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Childhood, Discussion of Childhood, Fluff, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Post-Reichenbach, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-15
Updated: 2015-12-15
Packaged: 2018-05-06 21:24:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5431289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trista_zevkia/pseuds/Trista_zevkia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An annoyed John walks into a Holmes' brother's confrontation. He decides to solve the mystery of just who started this fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Reason for the Spite

Trudging home from the surgery, John had heard the tortured violin from the tube stop. Well, maybe not really, but he’d had to give jabs to triplet nine year old boys. This was a nice cap to a day dedicated to testing a saint’s patience. For now, John snuck into the kitchen to put the kettle on. Breathing deeply, he stepped into view from the sitting room. The violin waterboarding session stopped as two heads snapped his way.

"John, do not offer this spleeny pottle-deep mumble-news tea." 

"Tea would be lovely, as Sherlock and I have much left to discuss." Mycroft responded as if Sherlock had said something polite. 

"There is nothing left to say! You blather, I say no, you come back, ad nausuim. You do know the definition of insanity, don't you?" 

"It was your vocabulary that drove Mummy to despair, not your actions." 

"Enough! So much more than enough. This is my absolute limit!" If John could have turned his head enough to stare at himself, he would have done so, disbelieving in how angry and loud he was all of a sudden. "Do you not remember how you promised to behave after Sherlock came back from the dead, and again after Magnusson? Somebody is going to tell me how this started, not this little tiff here but all this rivalry. First one to speak doesn't get shot." 

They all heard the kettle punctuate John's statement. 

"We began when I get back with the tea, and my gun." John amended, before walking away. Deep breathing in the kitchen relaxed him enough to make tea for everybody. 

After handing out the mugs, John sat in his chair and glared at the brothers. Clearly repressing his need to roll his eyes at the theatrics, Mycroft spoke first. It really didn't matter who started, as the other brother would be compelled to correct him, and John would eventually learn the whole story. 

"In my last year of public school, Sherlock caused me to make a sub optimal grade." 

"Caused! Oh, I like that. Mycroft is the one who discovered the joy of sex." 

"There is no cause to be crude." 

"He brought his bit of rough home for Easter." 

John was curious just where at a posh public school one found a bit of rough, but let it pass. 

"Got so busy playing with his Easter eggs..." 

"Sherlock! Yes, John, I was unusually distracted by matters of the flesh. I was not in my optimal physical form," 

"Rotund beach ball." Sherlock clarified in his special way. 

"And yet someone had expressed an interest in me, before my final growth spurt. Naturally, I was flattered. New areas of social interactions were available to me, but I would not have let my schoolwork suffer. That break was the first of many dismal attempts to socialize in the presence of Sherlock, without Mummy." 

"Timeout." John didn't use any hand gestures, as he was still clutching his mug of tea. "I'm calling bullshit. You'd known Sherlock his whole life; you had to be ready for his behavior before you invited this guest home." 

"Bravo, John." Sherlock cheered from his couch. 

"That bullshit card goes for you as well." John pointed with an index finger. "Bratty as you are, I've no doubt you amped it up for that break." 

"He stole my work, John! The work!" 

"It was a report on the ancient Romans from my syllabus that interested Sherlock. He had always done my homework, so I made sure he got to sneak a copy at all my syllabi when I had them. I believe it was a way to prove he was ready for public school, so that he could attend with me there to protect him." 

"Bullshit card on the play!” Sherlock interrupted, showing he was absorbing something of the sport metaphor. “The world placed so much value on homework, I thought they'd eventually realize I was smarter than you since I was doing your homework while seven years younger." 

"Enough." Captain Watson silenced what could have been another slide into angry rhetoric. "Did you steal Sherlock's work?" 

"I was leaving to return to school when I realized I had not yet done the assignment. Knowing I didn't have time to complete it, and that Sherlock had already moved on to other topics, I borrowed it. I planned to use it for the foundation of my essay, but my companion had some very interesting ideas to make the time go faster." 

"The fiend admits his crime." 

"You got caught cheating?” John was fighting a grin, trying to keep in character, but this explained so much. “Was it in Sherlock's handwriting?" 

"No, it was typed, but I still didn’t get caught. The master simply thought it wasn't up to my usual standard. He gave me a lecture on slacking off during vacations." 

"Yet he still claims to be smarter than me! I was years younger." 

John blinked. "All this ear shattering drama because you nicked his homework? You're both idiots." 

Lacking any better idea, John threw his head back and laughed. He'd had a few rows with Harry but nothing like this. This was such a thing that would only be a problem between the Holmes brothers, that John laughed until he cried. While he had his little event, Mycroft and Sherlock went to the kitchen for a conference. 

They decided that John's normal little brain had snapped and they must call a truce for his sake. Mycroft promised to send only interesting cases in the near future, providing John's fragile mental state was up to it. Sherlock took the case that had brought Mycroft here today. He also agreed to use the violin for music until John was healthy again. 

John got a nice cuppa and a good laugh, just before a mind exploding case that kept him up for three day straight. All was as it should be in 221b. 

**J <3S**


End file.
